Pets.com IPO raised $82.5M then went bankrupt in <1 year
Pets.com raised $82.5 million in its IPO and declared bankruptcy less than a year later — the poster child of dot-com excess.
Snapshot · The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
No Mercy / No Malice: 1999.AI
Explore episode
Jul 18, 2026
Where this was said
The Dot-Com Era: Get Big Fast and the VC Frenzy
At 4:23 · chapter starts 2:40
George Hahn narrates Galloway's account of the dot-com boom's defining philosophy: get big fast. By 1999, 39% of all venture capital was flowing into internet companies, and 80% of US IPOs were web-related. The atmosphere was one of profound optimism — a once-in-a-generation land grab for margin and market share. Galloway makes this personal: his own company, Red Envelope, raised $30 million at a $120 million valuation on $30 million in revenues while losing $20 million annually. It was absurd, and the market eventually said so. The detail grounds what could be abstract history in lived, scarring experience.
39% of VC into internet companies in 1999
By 1999, 39% of all venture capital investments were being deployed into internet companies, a concentration that foreshadowed the eventual crash.
Red Envelope: Scott Galloway's Dot-Com Confession
Galloway isn't just an observer of the dot-com bubble — he lived it. His firm Red Envelope raised $30 million at a $120 million valuation on revenues of $30 million while losing $20 million. The market eventually showed up and corrected the absurdity. He's drawing on those scars now.
80% of US IPOs internet-related in 1999
In 1999, 80% of US IPOs were related to internet companies, reflecting the extreme exuberance of the dot-com era.
Pets.com to OpenAI: Right Thesis, Wrong Timing
Pets.com had the right idea — consumers would buy pet food online. It was just a decade early. Chewy proved the thesis in 2011. OpenAI may be the same story: the correct thesis, but the infrastructure, economics, and market readiness aren't there yet.
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